A rising number of elementary schools in South Korea have either closed already or are on a verge of shutting down due to a declining number of enrollments.
With the number of students certain to continue going down due to the nation's chronically-low birth rate,... experts are urging schools to embrace more personalized forms of learning.
Cho Sung-min has the story.
A major side effect of a continuously declining birth rate in Korea is starting to show in the education sector.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government recently reported that some elementary schools across the capital have been either permanently closed or are very close to being shut down,...due to the declining number of new students.
According to government data, the total number of students registered for this year adds up to around 8-point-2 million...but by 2060, the figure is expected to diminish by nearly half.

As such, Korea's education ministry called on universities nationwide to look into measures such as downsizing their enrollment capacities.

Experts point out that with the imminent lower number of students in the future, teaching methods should focus more on what's being dubbed as personalized learning, which offers curriculum and learning needs that fit students individually.

"Parents nowadays are more inclined to guiding their children into a personalized learning method that fits their needs, aptitudes and interests."

Under this scheme, instructors would bear bigger responsibilities as they would have to find material and curricula that fit each student, and not the traditional way, which is guiding students to follow a set curriculum.
Cho Sung-min, Arirang News.